The Hunter (34 page)

‘Everyone, this is Mr Hudson Brand. He’s our point of contact with Linley Brown, and he’s kindly agreed to help us.’

Brand tipped the brim of his cap and said, ‘Howdy.’

Tom wasn’t sure what to make of the man. He knew Sannie had questioned him twice over the murder of the prostitute whose body had been found near the Phabeni Gate entrance to Kruger. Sannie had nightmares sometimes and Tom thought they were to do with that case – she hadn’t experienced them before. It had been her first murder case after going back on the job fulltime and while she’d dealt with other similarly horrific crimes he knew she hated that her first remained unsolved. Brand was wanted for questioning by the Zimbabweans about another murder in Victoria Falls, and Tom knew Sannie also wanted to talk to him about a third killing, in Cape Town. Brand was tall and handsome, in a craggy, rugged sort of way.

‘Ma’am,’ Brand said by way of greeting to Tom’s wife.

Sannie said, ‘Your clients, they’re safely locked away somewhere?’

Brand nodded. ‘In the Protea Hotel just down the road a ways. I told them I was going to meet you before seeing Linley Brown. I neglected to mention I’d be seeing Linley in half an hour. You agree that they can talk to Miss Brown once she’s in custody?’

‘As we discussed on the phone, when Linley Brown is due to receive visitors she can elect to see Mr and Mrs Cliff if she chooses. It’s still up to Miss Brown.’

‘They’ll have to live with that,’ Brand said.

Sannie introduced the rest of the team to Brand and explained the plan, referring to a mud map she had sketched in the dirt at her feet with a stick. Five minutes before Hudson Brand was due to rendezvous with Linley Brown Tom would drive his game viewer along the access road to Shaw’s Gate, with Elmarie and Jaapie in the back posing as tourists. They would look for Linley Brown and, if they saw her, try and arrest her on the spot. It was more likely, however, that Linley would be hiding somewhere, perhaps in the bush in the communal grazing land that bordered the Sabi Sand reserve. The access road ran parallel to some eight kilometres of fence line before it actually met the Shaw’s Gate entrance to the reserve.

‘If Linley stays in hiding until Mr Brand shows up then Tom, Elmarie and Jaapie will drive to the gate and wait there. The only roads away from the rendezvous point lead to Shaw’s Gate,’ Sannie tapped a stone marking the gate to the north of the map, ‘the Paul Kruger Gate entrance to the national park here, to the east; and the R536 heading to Hazyview to the west.’

She explained that the two uniformed officers would set up a mock speed trap five kilometres to the west, towards Hazyview, and act as a blocking force in case Linley Brown had a getaway vehicle ready to spirit her away after her meeting with Brand. ‘To get to the Kruger Gate and disappear into the national park she has to get past me, here at base at Sabiepark, and past the security officers on the gate itself, who have been alerted to our operation. If she tries to disappear into the Sabi Sand reserve then Tom, Jaapie and Elmarie will stop her or, if she heads into the bush, they can give chase off road. Any questions?’

‘Do we know if she’s got any friends or associates?’ Tom asked.

Sannie shook her head. ‘No, but she had to get from White River, where the police last saw her, to this area. Unless she negotiated the local taxi system she might have stolen a car or hitchhiked or even paid a local safari operator to bring her here. She’s a Zimbabwean who was living a fairly transient lifestyle here in South Africa while robbing homes for a living. We expect her support network to be limited, but she’s clever, pretty, and she’s evaded police several times before, so it’s possible she’s conned someone into helping her.’

Sannie distributed colour copies of the portrait photograph from the passport they had found in the White River house. ‘This passport was issued recently, but as Linley is on the run it’s possible she’s altered her appearance. She may have cut her hair and probably dyed it. She’s about 1.6 metres tall.’

While everyone on the team studied the picture Sannie asked Brand if she could have a word in private, and she beckoned Tom over as well as she moved to a euphorbia tree a few metres away. ‘You’ve agreed to come to Nelspruit police station after this operation is over, and I appreciate that,’ Sannie said.

‘And you’ve agreed to take a statement from me for the Zimbabwean police.’

‘Reluctantly, yes, Mr Brand. They haven’t got around to issuing a warrant for your arrest so I can’t take you into custody for something they want to question you about but, as you can imagine, I’m interested in hearing your version of events.’

‘I understand. I saw Patrick de Villiers today.’

Sannie raised her eyebrows. ‘Really.’

Brand explained that he had been in the lobby of the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate, just down the road, when a Toyota Quantum minibus had pulled up. It was De Villiers, who was running a transfer for some guests from the hotel into a lodge in the Sabi Sand.

‘He told me the Zimbabwean police had let him go – something about a cast-iron alibi involving a Swedish backpacker. I don’t think he was very happy that I gave his name to Sergeant Goodness Khumalo. He threatened to kill me and probably would have if the concierge wasn’t there.’

‘I see,’ Sannie said. ‘I spoke to the good sergeant today and she told me the same story, that you had tipped her off about Patrick and that she had interviewed him. She’s not a detective and she’s fighting an internal battle with her colleagues to try to stay on the case. The detective in charge hasn’t returned my calls since I spoke to Khumalo. They let De Villiers go and he flew back yesterday – he had been driving a one-way overland trip from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls.’

‘Are you going to question him?’ Brand asked.

She stared into his eyes. ‘That’s my business.’

‘He was in all the same places I was, and I know I didn’t rape and kill those women,’ Brand said. ‘If I were you I’d take a closer look at him; we both know alibis can be faked.’

‘We can discuss all of this later,’ Sannie said. ‘My first priority is to arrest Linley Brown, and then your clients can talk to her in the cells after I’ve charged her, assuming Brown wants to see them. We can discuss your theory about De Villiers then. Now, one other thing, I want you to wear a wire today, so that we can gather some evidence about Brown before she’s arrested.’

Brand shook his head. ‘No dice. The first thing Linley will do is check me for a listening device. She’s smart, like you say, and she already half suspects a setup. I bought a spare mobile phone and last night I dropped it in the grass under a prominent tree near the RV point. I’m expecting her to search me and get me to hand over my phone, and then if her plan is to abandon me by the side of the road and hijack my truck I’ll call you as soon as she’s gone.’

‘And if she takes you hostage?’ Tom asked.

‘Then she’s only got three ways to go by road, and you’ve got them all covered. You know she won’t get far if she pulls a stunt like that,’ Brand said. ‘My guess is that she’s put her trust in me because she thinks she has no choice if she wants to get her money. She has no reason to suspect I know about her criminal past or that I’m working with you.’

Cars whizzed by, mostly holiday-makers on their way to the Kruger National Park. There was plenty of wilderness around here into which a person could disappear, Tom thought, but if Linley tried something stupid, like hijacking a car, then Sannie could call on police and national parks helicopters to track her. He reminded himself they were on the trail of a young woman who stole mobile phones and laptops from homes, not a murderess.

‘OK, it’s time we were in position.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ said Brand.

Tom held back as Brand went to his Land Cruiser and Jaapie and Elmarie climbed up into the back of Tom’s borrowed game viewer. ‘You think Brand will stick to his end of the bargain and voluntarily come to the station? He might decide it’s better to run off with Linley Brown.’

Sannie stood with her hands on her hips and watched Brand turn his vehicle around in the estate’s driveway. ‘The thought had crossed my mind. If he
is
guilty then I agree he might try and slip through our fingers. I guess we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.’

Tom smiled. ‘You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you? There’s no way either of them is going to escape today, is there?’

‘There’s one more way out of here, and neither Hudson Brand nor Linley Brown is taking it.’

‘Let me buy you dinner tonight,’ Tom said on impulse.

‘Why do you think I invited you to take part in this operation?’

‘Why do you think I asked the Oberholzers to pick up the kids this afternoon and keep them until tomorrow midday?’

It was her turn to smile. She leaned close to him and whispered: ‘Let’s book into a hotel.’

‘OK, but only if I get to wear my safari outfit.’

*

Brand checked the Garmin sat nav on the dashboard of the Land Cruiser and ascertained he was in the right spot, on a sharp bend in the dirt access road to Shaw’s Gate, just off and out of sight of the R536. He switched off the engine and opened the driver’s door to let in what little warm breeze was ruffling the dry grass.

A few minutes later, on schedule, Tom Furey slowed his Land Rover game viewer and waved to Brand. By pre-arranged signal Brand gave Tom an overt thumbs up, as if to say that he wasn’t broken down and didn’t need assistance. Jaapie had his arm around his detective colleague, Elmarie, and they ignored the two drivers just as two tourists would. Brand wondered idly if it was all an act or if there was something going on between the two officers. Tom’s vehicle accelerated and left a lingering dust cloud to settle over Brand’s truck.

He got out of the vehicle and looked around him. The tinderbox dry bush seemed deserted. He walked to the tall fence that marked the border of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve and the greater Kruger National Park. It was made of strands of barbed and electrified wire. Brand heard voices and engines.

He walked around the bend and could instantly see that a traffic jam had formed about two hundred metres along the fence line. He went back to the Land Cruiser and got his binoculars. Tom Furey was stuck behind half a dozen other vehicles,
bakkies
and minivans and a couple of cars. On the other side of the fence Brand saw what the commotion was about – lions jockeyed for position around the carcass of a freshly killed buffalo. In contrast with the dull tones of the rest of the reserve a neat swathe of bright green short grass ran along the fence, indicating where a controlled burn had taken place. The fresh shoots, nourished by underground water, had attracted the buffalo and the lions had probably run the hapless creature into the fence, trapping it there.

The plan risked becoming unstuck already. Linley Brown might panic at the sight of so many people near her chosen rendezvous spot. She might reason, correctly, that a couple of undercover police officers might easily hide themselves in the gaggle of tradesmen and tourists in transit who had come to feast on the spectacle.

On the other hand, Linley was a child of Africa and she would know that stuff like this happened in the bush. No one could predict where lions would make a kill. Perhaps Linley was at this moment in the throng watching the lions from this side of the fence. He saw several young females who might fit her general description, but couldn’t positively identify her from this distance.

On the other side of the fence were three green-painted Land Rovers from lodges within the Sabi Sand arrayed side-on in a half circle around the pride, each about five metres from the nearest lion in order to give the tourists on board the best possible viewing. One of the guides was waving and calling something to the people on the outside, probably telling them to move along. However, the access road was public and the gawkers showed no sign of leaving any time soon. Brand swung his binoculars again and saw Tom Furey talking on a cell phone, presumably to his wife.

‘Hey!’ a voice called. ‘Hudson?’

Brand lowered the binoculars and turned to face the direction the man’s voice had come from. A young man in khaki shorts and shirt with a pair of binoculars slung across his body stepped from behind a grey termite mound about twenty metres inside the reserve, on the other side of the fence, and waved to him, a walkie-talkie in one hand.

‘Over here, come to the fence.’

‘‘You do know there’s a pride of lions just up the perimeter road a ways?’ Brand said. As he came closer to the fence he recognised the man. ‘Bryce Duffy? How the hell did you get mixed up in this?’

Bryce flattened himself on the side of the mound furthest from the lions. ‘Yes, Hudson, I had noticed the lions. It’s a long story.’

Brand stopped by the fence and kept an eye on the action further away. So, Linley Brown had hitched herself to young Duffy. He could see why they might find each other attractive, however he’d always thought of Bryce as a straight shooter; it surprised him that Duffy would get involved with a criminal. ‘You do know what Linley’s been up to, and why I’m here?’

He nodded. ‘She’s on the run from a crazy boyfriend, a cop who framed her for a series of crimes she didn’t commit. She needs to see you and sign some papers about an insurance claim relating to her dead friend, but she’s worried that you might be working with the police.’

Brand exhaled. He wondered what other lies she’d been telling. ‘Bryce, buddy, you’re being played. The cops are after her because she’s a thief, but I’ve come alone, and I don’t know anything about a crazy boyfriend. Where is she?’

‘Around.’ Bryce looked like he was wrestling with the new information.

‘That’s not good enough for me, or the insurance company. I have to visually identify her and get her to sign an affidavit before they’ll approve her claim. Call her on your radio or go get her, Bryce. You’ve done your job, the coast is clear.’

‘Not so fast.’ Bryce peered around the mound to make sure the lions weren’t watching, then moved slowly to the fence. ‘You can talk to her on my walkie-talkie.’